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Topic: Richards' Gouda #5/Leiden #1 (Read 4202 times)

Following the advice of a number of forum members, tomorrow's Gouda will include cumin seeds. So, I'm calling it Gouda #5/Leiden #1. I've reviewed Boofer's Leiden thread, and am now boiling my seeds. I will let them soften up in the water over-night. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

My recipe from 200 Easy Cheeses called for 2 tablespoons of seeds. I cut that to 1 tablespoon which seemed just right. I also included the water/"broth" that the seeds were boiled in when adding to the curds. I seem to recall DJDebi using too many seeds and ending up with something she wasn't happy with. Mine was a pleasantly cumin'd cheese...with tender, soft seeds.

Thanks, Boofer. I'm using a little over half a tbsp with 2 gallons of milk. I used Hoeklijn's 50-75 grams/100 liters, and measured out close to 4 grams--a little on the low side, but I think it should be good. I'll also be including the "broth"--that seemed like a great idea.

I have yet to put any non-cheese foodstuffs in mine yet. I saw one make someone did that had blueberries in it that looked positively scrumptious! The cumin seeds should also make a very interesting flavor enhancement!

How is the smell of the cheeses? One of my favorite things is to set my drying cheeses next to my laptop so I can smell them as I work.

This was the first time I added anything to a cheese. So far so good. I noticed the cumin smell while I was making the cheese, but now it smells the same as the other Goudas. I did enjoy the cumin seeds I ate as I consumed the flashing...is that what you call the thin extruded portions that sneak past the follower? That's what I'd call them if they were metal in a forge.

I agree that the blueberry cheeses that I've seen look fantastic.

My wife thinks it's funny that you like to smell your cheeses while you work. Don't feel bad, she thinks I'm odd for making cheese and particularly odd that I participate in an on-line forum for cheese makers. Geez--can a guy get a break? But, she also thinks I'm adorable (she made me write that...).

My wife has taken to calling me "the cheesehead" so I guess I need to start rooting for the Greenbay Packers LOL.

I have always had a love for cheese...just had little experience with the artisan cheeses and had no idea that I could make cheese until my son-in-law began brewing...his brewer supplier also carried a few cheesemaking supplies and that is what got me started. Now I am hooked! lol

The learning, the crafting, and the potential to eventually make something that tastes exceptional is just fascinating. I have only taste-tested one cheese I have made so far (the rest are still aging) and it wasn't aged out ripe yet, but shows great potential! Not sure some of my earlier cheeses will wow me, but I am feeling like (in the crafting of them) I am making great strides...and I have slowly accumulated materials that will allow me to take the next steps forward as I continue to broaden my understanding of the craft.

Good job, Mike. You cut the cheese in two? I tried that once and had a little trouble with the cut side healing and developing rind properly. Someone else had a similar experience as well. Fingers crossed, Mike.

bbracken: I, too, have always loved cheese. As a boy, I used to get a 5 lb loaf of cheddar for Christmas each year (my mom thought I was odd then, too, but she was accommodating). I've only been making cheese with genuine effort for a few months, now. I learn more each time and wish that the cheeses that are aging could also have the benefit of my current knowledge, but until I perfect time travel, I'll have to be satisfied with the same process everyone goes through.

Boofer: Thanks for the vote of confidence. We'll see how it turns out, but I think it should be okay. I cut it right after pressing under whey, and then pressed each of the halves separately for the remaining pressing regime. I would have pressed each separately under the whey, but the I didn't have both molds ready at the time.

I opened this guy up last month and enjoyed 1/4 of it. Yesterday I pulled the other 1/4 out and shared some with my mom (she's visiting from the East Coast). She was impressed, as we all have been with this cheese. It turned out really well.

The cumin flavor was just perfect--not too strong, not too weak. It also wasn't unpleasant to mash down on a seed itself (like I thought it might have been). The cheese had a slight "pickled" smell when I first pulled it out of the bag (this was the first cheese I bagged). I think it was a little too moist (because the acid level dropped too quick and I didn't cook it long enough) when it went in the bag. Regardless, it was/is great.